BASEBALL; Journey Is Long For Rivera In Every Way

Published: October 13, 2004

Mariano Rivera's agonizing day started on a dusty road in Puerto Caimito, Panama, 2,255 miles 60 feet 6 inches from the pitcher's mound at Yankee Stadium. A sullen Rivera eased into Dios de la Profesia, his church, for the funeral of two cousins of his wife, his mind and body far away from a playoff game between the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.

There was a thick fog shrouding the tiny fishing village yesterday as Rivera, his wife, Clara, and their children mourned the loss of Victor Dar?Avila, a 35-year old fisherman, and Victor Leonel, his 14-year-old son. They were electrocuted in an accident around the pool at the Riveras' palatial home Saturday.

Rivera alternately wept, looked peaceful and hugged his wife during the two-hour service, but he did not speak. The Rev. Alexis Reyes told the thousand or so mourners that a celebrity like Rivera does not matter in life. Only Jesus Christ does. The pastor asked the congregation to say, ''Adios, Victor y Leonel.''

At the cemetery, mourners held white balloons with messages like ''Christ lives'' and ''So long, Leo.'' Rivera held a balloon, too. When the ritual at the cemetery concluded, the balloons were released to the sky.

After the ceremonies, Rivera, who paid for the funeral and promised to take care of Mar?F?x, Avila's widow, and her 16-year-old daughter, told reporters in Panama, ''This is a very difficult moment, but you have to go on and thank God for what we have.''

Rivera was soon put in a position to match his actions to his words about having to move forward after the deaths. His actions as a pitcher in mourning the last three days were imposing as Rivera helped the Yankees survive in a wild 10-7 victory over the Red Sox in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.

The Yankees summoned Rivera with two outs and the potential tying run on third base in the eighth inning, and he induced Kevin Millar to pop out. He retired Bill Mueller on a double play to end the game. Mueller hammered a homer off Rivera to lift the Red Sox to an 11-10 victory July 24, which was the game in which Alex Rodriguez and Jason Varitek brawled, the game the Red Sox felt turned around their season.

But, once again, Rivera saved the game and saved Yankees from what would have been a demoralizing loss. He came back from a devastatingly human day and was his superhuman self all over again. How could Rivera weep at a funeral in Panama in the morning, then smile after a game in the Bronx at night?

''That's who I am,'' Rivera said. ''I think the blessings and prayers and being a man of God, I think keep me humble. That's what I believe in. When you believe in God, I think you can do anything you want, and that helped me get going.''

Rivera left Panama with his sister-in-law on a private plane provided by the Yankees around 2:30 p.m., 3:30 Eastern time. He landed at Teterboro Airport in Bergen County, N.J., shortly after 7 p.m. The Yankees had arranged for a customs agent to be ready to handle his documentation so he would not be delayed.

While Rivera felt it was important to return to the Yankees, he admitted that he would have rather stayed with his family. Rivera's wife accompanied him to the airport in Panama and the pitcher said the most difficult part of his day was leaving his wife and children behind in a painful situation and venturing to New York without them.

''It was tough, it was tough, coming on that plane alone,'' Rivera said. ''I was thinking, just tears coming out of my eyes. It was tough. It wasn't easy, almost five hours on a plane.''

With a police escort from Teterboro, which is 12 miles from the Stadium, Rivera arrived at the park in the back seat of a blue Cadillac at 8:49 p.m. He received a nice ovation from a dozen fans who were still outside the Stadium. Rivera smiled at them, waved and walked briskly into the park for the second inning. He actually seemed upbeat.

After he made it to the clubhouse, he saw several floral arrangements by his locker. Rivera told Mel Stottlemyre, the team's pitching coach, that he endured a terrible day. But he also told him that as awful as it had been, he was ready to pitch. Rivera asked an attendant to store the flowers elsewhere so he could get dressed.

His late arrival did not disrupt his routine. He usually spends the first five innings in the clubhouse anyway, gets a massage and watches the game on television before reporting to the bullpen.

Last night, he made it to the bullpen in the bottom of the fifth and was met with hugs by the other relievers. Tom Gordon gave Rivera a bearhug and lifted him off the ground. The fans in left field gave Rivera a standing ovation and chanted his name. Rivera grinned as he talked with his teammates, a stark contrast to how he felt earlier in the day.

''I was coming here to pitch,'' Rivera said. ''I would have been upset if I didn't pitch today.''

Manager Joe Torre said he wanted to gauge Rivera's emotional state before using him, but the fact that he traveled hours after the funeral indicated that he was be ready to be called on in the eighth or ninth inning. And he was.

''He worked all season to get here with the Yankees,'' Fernando Cuza, Rivera's agent, said. ''He has been part of their effort to get this far. This is very important to Mariano. Just as it was important for him to be with his family, he wants to be part of this.''

Torre was not surprised that Rivera pitched so precisely on a gloomy day and theorized that the game probably gave Rivera a chance to hide.

Cuza spoke to Rivera after the funeral and said they discussed logistics, but no specifics, of the services. The agent did not want to ask Rivera to recap a dreary day. Not at that moment. By then, Rivera was thinking about traveling 2,255 miles 60 feet 6 inches to get to a baseball game in New York.

Photos: Mariano Rivera and his wife, Clara, attended funeral services yesterday in Puerto Caimito, Panama, for two members of her family. (Photo by Kathryn Cook/Associated Press)(pg. D2); Mariano Rivera's day began with a funeral in Puerto Caimito, Panama, above. He later flew to New York by private jet, left. He entered last night's game in the eighth inning. (Photo by Kathryn Cook/Associated Press); (Photo by Associated Press); (Photo by Barton Silverman/The New York Times); Mariano Rivera pitched an inning and a third last night to nail down the Yankees' Game 1 victory over Boston at the Stadium. (Photo by Barton Silverman/The New York Times)(pg. D1)